Palin backers rewrite history to match account of Revere’s ride

Supporters of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have taken to Wikipedia, attempting to rewrite the saga of Paul Revere’s ride to match the somewhat jumbled version Palin gave last week during a visit to Boston.

In case you missed it, here’s what Palin said of Revere on Friday: “He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”

She was a bit on the spot, but her recollection of a pivotal moment in American history is flawed at best.

Revere actually warned colonists of the British military advances during his Midnight Ride.

Palin had a chance to clarify on Fox News on Sunday, but stood by her account.

“I know my American history,” she said, “part of his ride was to warn the British, that were already there, that, ‘Hey, you’re not going to succeed. You’re not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual private militia that we have.’ He did warn the British.”

Palin supporters, citing an “influential U.S. politician,” have since tried to alter the Wikipedia entry on Revere’s ride to match Palin’s interpretation. One part of their logic is that most colonists at the time considered themselves British, therefore Revere was indeed “warning the British.”

Of course. That’s exactly what Palin meant.

Revere actually did warn the British – after he was detained at a roadblock on his way to Concord. He told British officers that an advance on Lexington could be dangerous because of the armed colonists amassed there. But he didn’t ring any bells.